


Glycon

by Hyacinthium, Linnorm



Series: Rotary [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Content, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kokichi's Self-Defense Humor, Love Across The Universe: Dangan Salmon Team, M/M, Mindscrewery, My First AO3 Post, No Smut, Oumoron, POV Oma Kokichi, Panic Attacks, Pre-Slash, Sad Cannibal Boy Screaming Internally, Sumb, The Author Regrets Nothing, mutual unrequited pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 21:18:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14410755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyacinthium/pseuds/Hyacinthium, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linnorm/pseuds/Linnorm
Summary: Weeks into the Dating Game, Kokichi notices that Shuichi has been acting suspicious lately, and starts following him around when possible. One night Shuichi seems to be making his move by sneaking off to the kitchen, causing Kokichi to follow him in order to investigate. What he discovers is neither Shuichi eating a midnight snack of leftovers nor setting up a murder.





	Glycon

Kokichi hates the game.

It's been two weeks since the 'Dating Game' show started. Two weeks since Ouma Kokichi and fifteen other student with Ultimate talents were kidnapped and tossed into what must be the most asinine should-be-illegal situation possible. By a family of fake bears that were originally aiming to run a killing game show. The entire farce of an opening ceremony was scripted to the point of pain-inducing boredom. The crappy references made by the father bear were actually annoying too.

The implications were not so great. Just waking up and exploring before the big event in the gym had made Kokichi feel like he'd been stuck in the damn school forever.

While most of the other students had taken an approach of any game not about killing being a good game, the original ten day mark had no duo close enough to graduate. The general game plan had been to spend at least one date with every student and go from there. Said plan ended up working too well. Instead of the audience feeling bored by how slow the dating was going, the voyeurs became enraptured just by seeing everyone build 'friend-ships' in addition to forced romantic inclinations brought on by a stressful situation.

The result was Monokuma announcing an extension and the introduction of an actual friendship measuring gimmick. Before that, Kokichi had admittedly been... relaxed. Or maybe just not on edge enough. It wasn't a killing game after all.

But Monokuma had proven that the game could be changed. Oh, sure, it had just been an extension and implementing a way to measure friendship; it also proved that if the audience wanted something then it got what it wanted.

Kokichi had more important things to do than spend every waking moment of his time trying to trick his brain into loving someone. There was an entire school to investigate. An entire situation needed to be investigated.

There was zero way that Kokichi could possibly just relax anymore. Monokuma often says or makes allusions to the killing game mode still being on the cards too. All of which is between mind numbing references.

He does genuinely like all of his fellow prisoners though. And there was no way he'd let the audience think that he's boring either. So he goes on the dates requested of him, happily socializes with everyone, and generally tries to balance protecting himself with getting close to the others. That isn't to say that Kokichi doesn't get prickles of annoyance or unease with some of them, and he does get what could be described as kneejerk emotional responses to the others and seemingly irrational things. He simply makes sure to battle those occasional and uncalled for reactions that like to pop up on. Kokichi has experience in masking his genuine feelings by exaggerating them or simply acting.

That's during the day, however. Night is when Kokichi uncovers his whiteboard and skulks around the academy grounds. He would poke around during daylight hours as well, but it's never as dedicated- beyond keeping track of people. Only when the majority is sleeping does Kokichi feel secure enough to scout out the various oddities within their home-dome.

For instance, the hidden door in the library. That high-tech and very much locked fridge tucked away in the kitchen corner. All of the labs.

Kokichi has done these things even before that hope killing adjustment to the game. Now the activities have become like a self given duty instead of curiosity and worry.

Almost everyone has a normal and fairly set pattern of daily life, and trends make sure that necessary divergences are easy to account for.

Which is why the sudden and consistent change in behavior of Saihara Shuichi is such a huge concern.

Throughout their time here, Shuichi had gone above and beyond in reaching out to everyone, and Kokichi couldn't help but be unusually fond of the Ultimate Detective. It wasn't something like a crush that could be acted upon by placing a cutesy handwritten letter in a locker. Doing so would even be in horrible taste considering that everyone woke up in lockers after being kidnapped.

Kokichi likes pranks and jokes, but he didn't think that that would be his style.

The fact that Shuichi tries so hard is difficult to ignore. Turning on Kokichi's monopad would instantly reveal that he was closer to Shuichi than anyone else. No one else enjoys or tolerates Kokichi's lies or humor to the extent that Shuichi does. No one else here smiles or so earnestly attempts to piece together his contractions into a coherent puzzle.

So Shuichi starting to act suspiciously at night and such is deeply disturbing. It's probably just bias showing through, but Kokichi keeps coming back to the killing game to the point of a minor obsession.

The problem is that it's so easy to assume that someone might get hasty and paranoid enough to end up killing someone. As time passes, Kokichi keeps thinking of a whole host of how-who-whys about it. Someone could want to kill off the, extremely likely to exist in Kokichi's opinion, student plant by setting a trap. And that's just one example.

It might not even be wanting to hurt another student. Their daily life is a situation that Kokichi can easily see driving someone to self harm. One student is already lacking a strong will to live.

Everything could go wrong and probably will at some point. All Kokichi can do is aim to prevent these things.

When someone who could maybe become his friend someday is acting abnormally, then Kokichi is absolutely going to spy on that person's sudden interest in casing the kitchen- aka the place with all the knives.

Shuichi is one of the smartest people around- and the Ultimate Detective besides. He could do anything.

That was the gist of Kokichi's thoughts three days ago. Shuichi has been acting odd for a total of five days now. The detective has been so visibly affected by this change in behavior that people other than Kokichi have noticed, and questioned the detective’s dip in appearance, but nothing has improved. Shit, Kokichi is honestly worried that Shuichi really will do something now. The self-aware reminders of 'hey you act suspicious too' are laying in the background of Kokichi's brain.

The habitual prankster has taken to following Shuichi around at night for these past three days. While the detective has often shown a few signs of awareness, Shuichi's own stake out of the kitchen seems to be aimed at making sure he knows when the kitchen will be utterly empty. Honestly speaking, Kokichi hadn't been dead set being 100% hidden those times either.

Kokichi is extremely good at being undetected after all! Why, in another world, he might even have been the Ultimate Phantom Thief. Alas.

Patiently waiting for Shuichi to actually make his move and go into the kitchen is child's play. Waiting a good few minutes for Shuichi to feel safe enough to act is a little less enjoyable though. Kokichi heads inside with a chill down his spine.

Maybe Shuichi will just be binge eating on a midnight snack. Stocking up on midnight snacks. Shuichi will be embarrassed and confused, Kokichi will be embarrassed and backpedal, and the next day they’ll both laugh it off.

What Kokichi sees when he waltzing inside like he rules the place is this;

The electronically locked fridge in the corner is open just enough for Kokichi to see uncooked meat in various containers and packages. Shuichi is crouched on his knees near it, red tinged fingers plucking slices of meat from a ziplock bag.

The instinctively familiar metallic-sweet scent is strong enough that Kokichi can smell it from across the room.

Shuichi is there for a midnight snack- one of raw flesh.

Saihara Shuichi, Ultimate Detective, sitting on the floor gorging on the bloody substance with one of his eyes turned black and red.

For a moment the two of them just stare at one another.

Kokichi lets the sight of eyes and hands be seared into his memory before Shuichi can slam the refrigerator fully shut. The crimson handprint left behind is almost ironic.

Even once the detective- the ghoul- does so, it can't erase the single monstrous eye glaring out of the socket it calls home. Smeared blood dripping over his lips and painting his hands. There's nothing that could possibly twist the truth here. Saihara Shuichi is one of those man eating beast hiding in human skin, a ghoul. He was eating humans just now, that meat belonging to people, and he has the audacity to look scared. Like it's Kokichi's fault.

Saihara breaks gazes first, head lowering to face the bits of remaining human flesh in their sad little bag. His fists clench and his shoulders shake- but he remains silent. By all means, the ghoul seems to be conflicted by what he's going to do. At least that much about Shuichi was real.

It isn't fair.

Kokichi knows that he's going to die now. There's no way that Saihara will just let him go off and tell all the others about this, even if Kokichi swears not to tell anyone. Ghouls don't survive by being stupid. Ghouls don't survive being Ultimates and working closely with the police by letting just any unlucky human keep their secret.

Saihara doesn't really know him and he certainly doesn't like him. A handful of 'dates' on a kidnapping romance show does not make anything. It never does.

This isn't fair, a voice in his head cries out.

He can't breathe or hear or feel anything other than the burning in his eyes- but Kokichi tries to escape anyway. A ringing in his head is helping to send him into a panic, but Kokichi is beyond caring. There's almost a chance that sufficient hassle will make Saihara kill him faster.

Kokichi is going to die and suffer and then Shumai is going to eat him up until nothing is left like he's cattle kokcihiisgoingnotaginnotgainwhynotlasttimeidont

Various weights wrap around Kokichi in the form of hot ribbons, but instead of crushing or puncturing him they layer over one another, and carry him back towards their owner and further still. The special predatory organ of a ghoul. Kokichi tries to scream. He's met by the pathetic  sound of his voice being muffled by the flat kagune covering his mouth. Unable to act and unwilling to watch himself be killed by Saihara, he clenches his wet eyes shut instead.

"Ouma-kun, please stop." The other's worried voice sends a pang of fear down his spine. Why does he have to sound so sad? How can Saihara sound so remorseful when it's Kokichi that's about to be murdered? "Please- stop moving and listen to me. I'm not going to hurt you!"

It's not fair if you're the one who lies. It's not right that I can't do anything. It's not fair that this keeps happening!

The burning wetness in Kokichi's eyes breaks into ugly tears. He can feel his face grow heated and blotchy as broken sobs leak out of his mouth. No one will hear them. Arms touch his own briefly. They wrap around him and settle him into Saihara's lap like an unruly doll. Still no pain.

One trembling hand finds its way into Kokichi's hair and starts to slowly stroke his skull. A poor attempt at comfort.

Saihara speaks again. "Shhh. Everything will be fine. Just try to b-breathe, okay?"

Kokichi can't stand it. Why is Shuichi bothering with pointless niceties?

Comprehension hits near instantly. Saihara has been nothing but kind since they first woke up and met one another. He's polite, normally understanding, and likely has an above average moral fiber even as a ghoul. The moment the bears mentioned the killing game is just one moment where Saihara could have instantly killed every single human around him. He didn't. Up until now, this Saihara has been nothing but a good person.

The realization just makes Kokichi heave harder into the flat warmth of Saihara's stupid murder organ. Something like relief swirls down to join the pit in Kokichi's esophagus.

Shuichi wants Kokichi to die without pain or panic. For Kokichi to be something closer to happy or content. Like gently euthanizing a pet that has no idea that it would otherwise suffer from repeated cancer and waste away. So he's hugging him, murmuring useless words, while Kokichi drowns beneath sparse air and the taste of salt. He doesn't want Kokichi to die alone.

Why does one of them have to be a ghoul? Monokuma had said it didn't want a killing game so- 

If the situation were different, Kokichi would say that the sudden nasal congestion is killing him. Depending on how different, he'd be trying making sure that Shuichi gets his meals from methods that aren't murder. But the situation is what it is and so he yells at himself instead. Kokichi is going to die because his paranoia and worry forced Shuichi to murder him. Since there's no way Monokuma won't capitalize on his death, so the killing game will start too.

He's ruined everything again.

"Hey, Kokichi..." Shuichi pats his shoulder. Is it because Kokichi isn't being as loud that Shuichi is asking something of him?

Opening his eyes, Kokichi is greeted by the sight of Shuichi staring down at him with a pinched expression. The detective truly looks as scared as Kokichi feels despite that one horrifying eye. Even then- both of them are crying. The kagune slowly shift Kokichi until they're no longer completely covering him, but merely preventing him from running away.

Both of them are crying. Another voice shouts out from the inside of Kokichi's head.

He shouldn't need to apologize for being about to die. And he doesn't, but it feels like he should. Apologize, in general.

The ghoul glances towards the kitchen doorway. "I'm going to uncover your mouth in a minute." The 'don't scream' is left unsaid.

There's not anyone to scream for.

Looking around more, Kokichi can see that the two of them are actually tucked into a corner near the bloodied fridge. A crevice if Kokichi considers the six limbs further shielding them from view. Shuichi's 'Kagune' really are akin to wide ribbons, the undersides pulsing with gold veins. The things would be beautiful if they didn't exist for the reasons they do. So that ghouls, Shuichi, could hunt people like prey. Kokichi has always wanted to see one.

The smooth surface over his lips lifts away just a centimeter before leaving his mouth free.

Kokichi could scream now, he could ask or say anything, but all that escapes him is a series of hiccups.

Somehow that prompts Shuchi to pull a handkerchief from a pants pocket and try to wipe his face clean. The soft cloth keeps patting Kokichi's cheeks even when he wiggles and turns his face away.

At least there's less snot on his face.

For the next few minutes they stay that way. Kokichi trying to stop sniffling and Shuichi too guilty to do anything but oblige the other boy with more reassurances. He must want to say something important, or for Kokichi to say anything, but instead the two remain in limbo; because Kokichi could not think of any words that might matter. Rather he could, but fears that trying to use them would result in a rambling mess. He doesn't want to open himself up to actually getting comfortable.

"I'm sorry," Shuichi murmurs.

A minute must pass before Kokichi finds his voice. "I f-followed you. This is- is my..."

"No Ouma-kun! That is," Shuichi hisses and immediately looks stricken when Kokichi tenses in his arms. "That's wrong. If you're going to say that anything about this is your fault, that's wrong."

Shuichi gulps. "I should have been more careful or less hasty. I could have waited longer and eaten more normal food than usual."

What.

"What?" The thought slips out in a wheeze.

Evidently, the reason for Kokichi's confusion is something that Shuichi picks up on right away. His lips thin and his eyes stray to the side. It's not exactly uncommon for people to be aware that ghouls can only eat humans. It's a biological obligation to consume human flesh, because eating anything else causes illness and weakens them if they don’t puke it up. Tastes like shit too. Kokichi knows that coffee still tastes great at least.

Shuichi has always enjoyed nursing multiple cups of both his own and Kirumi's coffee throughout the day. Kokichi has joined him with tea cups that may or may not have actually contained panta. These intrusive thoughts really need to be stopped.

The detective decides to reach up and tap at his single changed eye instead of answering. But in a way, that's an answer in and of itself.

"Y-you aren't normal g... a normal ghoul. So you can really eat food."

Kokichi watches the other boy nod once. That explains the lack of suspicious bathroom breaks and the genuine love for cake at tea time.

So why is Shuichi smiling like his mutant status somehow solves everything? Like his only half an eye and ability to be humany- half. Kokichi had 'heard rumors' of humans and ghouls in relationships. He'd distantly heard about ghouls with one eye too, as far as someone could say he had. Ha. More emotional grumbling to grace the interior of his pounding head. Joins up nicely with the self disgust for that damned stutter.

It really wasn't fair.

"If you expect me to believe that you're some special amazing unicorn you can fuck off and just ki-kill me already." Kokichi says.

How Shuichi's face falls into total shock and desolation in less than a second is almost novel. Fair enough, seeing as Kokichi is similarly aghast at his own audacity. Why in the name of literally anything ever had he said that? Shuichi was being nice to him.

But no, shut up, Kokichi just wants it to be over already. Do not pass go. Move on from yet another failure and end it while you can. Life isn't fair and then you die.

Shuichi makes a prolonged exhale. Most likely going to kill me now, Kokichi thinks.

"I've never killed anyone, Ouma-kun. And I am absolutely not going to start with you."

Kokichi sneers. "Don't lie to me."

"This isn't a lie! I don't want to hurt you let alone kill you," The ghoul pulls Kokichi closer. "Hurting anyone just because of this is something I'd never do. You may not believe me, and have no reason to, but one of my parents is a human just like you. I've never killed anyone. I've never... I've never eaten someone that was murdered."

"So suicide or hospital stuff, then." Kokichi says. The reply he gets is low and breathless.

"Yeah."

Kokichi mulls over it. Really lets himself actually think and remember, half-knowingly nestling himself further into Shuichi's warmth, and feels the rush of emotion burbling back up his throat. Into his eyes. He's too exhausted to be mad about it.

The body he's parasitizing off of twitches.

"Ouma-kun? Do you need a minute or-"

"I don't want this." Kokichi can feel Shuichi lurch. "I don't want this again. It's not f-fair and I hate it and I can't do this again, Shuichi, I don't want this to keep happening."

For a moment, Kokichi is held by increasingly still arms. But his head is far too full for him to truly comprehend Shuichi's heavy breathing or the reasons behind it. Kokichi keeps talking. Continues to let stupid honest words spew out of his mouth.

"I'm not sure how I keep getting away- but I did, I do, but it never matters. No one ever cares enough to look. Remembering just makes me confused. Trying to forget never works because I know I'll end up where I started. Accepting th-th-things is giving up." Arms hold Kokichi steady as words flood out. They're both shaking again, but Kokichi can't imagine why Shuichi would be acting that way.

"You know ghouls."

"I've cohabitated with some, I suppose you could say."

Shuichi's chest shudders. Kokichi's face is pressing into it, so he can't see anything but dark fabric, but he's pretty sure that Shuichi has just started rubbing his own face with a sleeve. He can feel one less arm and hear a lot of fabric noises anyway.

"Before you say any-anything just don't, okay?"

Dangerous game with dangerous prizes. But the possibility that Shuichi might not actually be aiming to kill him is growing slightly credible.

He isn't sure how to feel about that and might not want to.

Kokichi speaks up instead of letting himself think. "You know, Shumai, you've been on your knees holding me for a hot minute now. Want to maybe let me down and get your t-tentacles off me? S'not like I'm going to run anymore."

The ghoul's mismatched eyes near pop out of his head. Shuichi immediately starts stammering out both an apology and protests over using the word tentacle. Kokichi is lowered to the floor and set free all the same. The clearly not tentacles linger for a moment before retreating into Shuichi's back, soon making it seem like they were never there in the first place. Weird, but more fascinating than gross if Kokichi is being honest. A few questions bubble up before he squashes them down.

If he really does live past tonight, then he can spend hours annoying Shuichi about basic ghoul biology later. 

Feeling how much cooler the floor is than Shuichi makes Kokichi flop down to bask in it. Maybe the cold tile will help his heart rate go down. Probably not the best idea to show his very targetable stomach off. A quick glance at Shuichi doesn't reveal any kind of hungry stare though. 

Shuichi is just moving into a more comfortable position the same as Kokichi is. He's still visibly embarrassed by the tentacle comment, tense, but otherwise has non-hostile body language. 

More than Kokichi can say for most people after getting treated to the patented Kokichi brand of sizing up. He is entirely aware of how rude or confrontational he can be, especially when agitated. Can a problem that you make work for you really be called a problem though? 

The fact that Kokichi feels like cringing right after thinking that is probably a sign. 

Speaking of cringe, the floor is messy as all hell. 

There's blood... Pretty much mostly around the meat fridge but still. Shuichi is a bit covered in it t-

"Fuck, I got people juice on me!" Kokichi yelps. Shuichi gapes at him, staring at the drying stains on Kokichi's all white outfit.

"I am so sorry."

Groaning in response, Kokichi looks back towards the huge mess that they're a part of. How are they supposed to clean up all this blood?

This is nothing like prank clean up back home.

"Could be worse. All this crap could be a bright and fluorescent magenta or something," Kokichi murmurs."We should try figuring out a way to make this stuff vanish. Kirumi will be coming to start food preparation in just a few hours."

Shuichi gives him a worried look. Might be from the way Kokichi twitches at his own words.

The detective clears his throat. "I did bring a bag of clothing and cleaning supplies in case of emergency. It had been a while since I ate, so..." Another flush. How properly worried about being improper. Gonta would be slightly proud and mostly horrified. 

Shuichi gets up to retrieve his stashed bag of goodies and Kokichi follows his lead by standing in-order to remove his shirt. He can't do much about his mostly spotless pants, but his shirt and scarf got a nice big meeting with Shuichi's own jacket. Ick. Wait, there was some kind of clear goop where Shuichi's kagune had gripped him. Kokichi silently mimes gagging. He'd been joking about the tentacle stuff, and yet, here he was. 

"Alright, so I have stuff we can change into and some special cle-" Shuichi pauses mid sentence, and when Kokichi turns back to see why he just finds Shuichi staring at the main blood drops. Kokichi can feel his usual mischievous self come back into focus.

"Awww, is Saihara-chan embarrassed by my pasty-pale bod?" he says.

Kokichi walks over to the corner closet, labeled 'cleaning', and giggles at the sound of Shuichi's choking behind him. His back prickles at being turned to a ghoul.

Pulling out a bucket, some rags, and two mops out is easy. He even avoids disturbing the other tools within. Can't let anyone notice that some shit went down. Although, Kirumi might be the type to just stay quiet about it.

"So are we using bleach like some first timers or did that special mean something?"

"No," Shuichi sighs and takes the bucket to the sink. "Not using just regular bleach, or just any commercial cleaner, is one of the first things you learn. And anyone involved in homicide work learns about that very quickly, Ouma-kun."

Kokichi watches Shuichi fill the bucket up with water.

"I was actually wondering ... Did you use your abilities as a ghoul to help solve crimes?" he settles on using the blandest phrasing possible.

Shuichi carefully pours some of his special concoction into the water. His eyebrows are pinched together slightly. Did Kokichi still hit a sore spot?

"Yes, but I always back everything up with real evidence. My uncle and aunt happily helped cover me, but just running off of 'intuition' with no proof is bad even when you're human."

Kokichi feels a few parts of him swell with empathy at the sentiment. Going off of just belief can only be called naive. It's exactly why Kokichi has been keeping back his lies and curiosity.  
  
Plunging the mops into the not-for-long clear water, full of diluted chemicals and detergents left unnamed, Kokichi wonders if Shuichi has already picked up on that. Even as the minutes turn into at least an hour full of aggressive mopping and wiping, Kokichi does his damned best to keep the whammy lines and insistent questioning to a minimum. He's gone from trying to agitate Shuichi into killing him to staying on his good side.

It makes him feel a little sick, bending down and making himself be meek instead of puffing himself up with falsehoods. Kokichi would rather be holding up in his room and digesting this subversion of his expectations in safety.

Now he has to swallow it as he goes. Heart still pumping too fast to be justified by mopping. But mopping with just the two of them sucks.

The Supreme Leader spends the last twenty minutes complaining and being tempted to demand that Shuichi use his grabby little tenti-ribbons to use more mops. To clean for Kokichi so that Kokichi can collapse in peace.

Once the often changed water and cleaning supplies run clear for several minutes, Kokichi drops his mop and takes satisfaction in the subsequent clack.

It feels both like a victory and like he helped Shuichi clean up an actual crime scene.

Shuichi seems to be unphased by all the activity. Do ghouls have that much better stamina, or is Kokichi just a weakling at the moment? The answer comes back as weak in a split second.

“Sorry Saihara-chan, but since I couldn’t get my many janitorial subordinantes to clean up for me like I usually do, I’m about to fall over,” Kokichi says. Shuichi’s lips immediately curl into the smile that’s become so familiar to Kokichi since their ‘dates’ together.

If a pang of that ‘more than just’ fondness reminds Kokichi that it still exists, well, he shoves it down for later; just tries not to think what it may mean that his feelings haven’t changed at all.

There’s a lull in activity.

“But that’s Ouma-kun lying, right?”

For a few moments the two of them flounder for words and then something in Kokichi’s brain says that it’s time to start giggling hysterically.

“Pfffaaheee- Nishishishi! How does Saihara know that my organization isn’t actually a cleaning business instead of a criminal one?” Kokichi laughs more when Shuichi’s eyebrows shoot up.

Bringing a hand to his bangs, Shuichi counters. “An international organization of people in the cleaning industry seems even odder to not hear about than your initial claim.”

Two idiots trying to joke about a secret cleaning staff illuminati, after vanishing a bunch of blood, and kagune secretions. Feels like that time Shuichi forced himself to joke about getting horny after a meal.

“Well, you know~” He smiles, and they joke around for the sake of comfort just a bit more.

Normal but weird banter. Probably inappropriate.

Not even a friend, Kokichi reminds himself. Mutual Lima-Stockholm esque feelings induced by a fucked up robot bear on a TV show does not constitute anything. Different parts of Kokichi laugh and ask how that moment of total honesty got swallowed up by unthink-denial again. Lying to yourself is never healthy. Going back to repression will get you killed.

Putting away their well used tools, Kokichi grits his teeth and runs equations in his head. Tries to imagine three dimensional chess and weird comedy movies in English. Tonight’s long shower in which he’s going to use up all his soap.

He and Shuichi walk out of the kitchen and cafeteria together all the same.

It’s pretty stupid to go back to their rooms side by side, all things considered. If they get caught then Kokichi will have to bluff like wild. At least that will entertain… Entertain.

They’re maybe five steps out of the cafeteria when Kokichi realises that Shuichi has been outed as a ghoul on a live television show. Saihara Shuichi is quite plainly fucked. He might as well be dead.

Dread from hours ago hits Kokichi hard enough to make him pause.

Ghouls get hunted down, that’s how the world works. The authorities in most countries don’t give a shit about how ghouls source their food or how sympathetic they might be.

Shuichi’s entire family is going to get ripped to shreds.

“Ouma-kun?”

Kokichi snaps back into awareness. He almost wishes he didn’t. Shuichi shouldn’t be looking so worried about him, Shuichi should be worried about himself.

“We’re on TV,” Kokichi finds himself gnawing a fingernail. “We’re on TV and the cameras were probably focused on us. Everyone outside knows that Saihara-chan is a ghoul because of me.”

Shuichi grimaces, because of course he must have already realized that when he gave in and ate, but doesn’t actually seem scared. Had someone else figured it out first?

“Monokuma… it made sure of that the first day we got here. I think that the audience must have known from the start.”

Oh. That little shit.

“For the killing game?”

“For the killing game.”

They both end up slumping a bit as they continue their journey back to the dorms. The ease that the two boys had constructed earlier was killed by Monokuma, weeks after the fact.

“No wonder you held out on eating.” Kokichi replies.

The small laugh he gets is almost nice.

Eventually, they get their tired asses to the round metal section that leads to their rooms. The way back was full of occasional chatter despite the previous mood killer. Conversation about the state of the outside world, their respective future and families there, can wait for another time.

Kokichi leans back and stares at the pixel version of himself. It was cute but too full of gross contexts and implications for him to like it.

Maybe tomorrow he’d be able to go out and ask Shuichi all the questions that came with being too comfortable. He had enough saved up to buy a date ticket, for a handful of more privacy. They could talk about stuff like tastebuds and the slime from Shuichi’s totally not tentacles. What kind of senses applied to the kagune. Could some ghouls use theirs like a nose?

Can Kokichi get the all powerful audience become attached to, and sympathetic towards, a ghoul to the point of Shuichi not being detained and murdered the moment everyone graduates?

Enquiring minds.

“Good night, my darling Shumai,” Kokichi bids him a soft farewell.

Shuichi shuffles. “R-right. I’ll see you in the morning?”

When they both smile at each other it lifts a weight off of Kokichi’s shoulders, placing an even more determined one there instead.

Nothing changes from time and time. He hopes that someday one of them will be able to fully accept the other’s hand. A conclusion with no regrets.

Until a real ending is reached, Kokichi will keep moving forward.

That night is full of half remembered scenes that wake him up with an urge to go over the whiteboard. Kokichi’s body burns, his ears ring with Shuichi’s cries, but he doesn’t let the numbness in his limbs deter him. Dreams where he dies in front of a confused Shuichi and wakes up again not understanding the sobbing on his shoulder; is something he doesn’t want to think about.

Flashes of two flat surfaces erasing the inbetween.

Kokichi forces himself to think about everything.

He continues the game.  


**Author's Note:**

> As this is a work including setting details of Tokyo Ghoul being used to create an AU for New Dangan Ronpa V3. As such content warnings native to both series apply and I urge you to research those warnings. This includes those in the tags. Examples being cannibalism, [mentions of] death, blood and gore; and the mindscrew elements. Further warnings for this work that were not explicitly in the tags for the purpose of avoiding spoilers are; implied suicide near the end, a character time looping, low self esteem and self blame due to various factors. The subject matter is heavy despite the happy resolution between the two characters. The happiness is also bitter sweet. However, I do not wish to further paint the reader's perception of this work by tagging things like 'Angst with Happy ending'. If you cannot handle the initial warnings and the ones in this note, then for the sake of your safety and or simply comfort, please do not read.
> 
> I would like to thank my friend Linnorm from discord for both motivating me and providing feedback/betaing unasked. It's been a great time being able to talk about all these ideas!
> 
> Glycon now has fanart! Please shower this person's ghoulhara with lots of love.  
> http://shadow-eve00.tumblr.com/post/174428363778/made-something-from-a-saiouma-fic-i-really-love


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